


Second Chance

by Colamiilk



Series: Recovery [2]
Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Chronic Pain, Giriko centric suprisingly, Kissing, M/M, Manga AU, More indepth look at this AU, Oxygen Masks, Proposals, Some explanations, Tooth Rotting Fluff, grievous injury aftermath, just a few
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colamiilk/pseuds/Colamiilk
Summary: Giriko felt like he was suffocating as he stared at Justin finally without the oxygen mask. Breathing on his own. He was getting better. He really was. Justin looked to be in a similar state of shock.
Relationships: Giriko/Justin Law
Series: Recovery [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018233
Kudos: 4





	Second Chance

There was a moment where Giriko was completely frozen. He felt like he was suffocating as he stared at Justin finally without the oxygen mask. Breathing on his own. He was getting better. He really was. Justin looked to be in a similar state of shock, his eyes wide and amazed as he held the cross on his neck and felt his chest move up and down with his breaths. 

Just a day ago he could’ve suffocated without that mask. And to be completely fair he still could. They had said he was going to have to put it back on in an hour or so to make sure he didn’t strain himself and make his chest worse instead of strengthening it. But right now? Right now he was breathing. That was far more amazing than it had any right being. 

Giriko wasn’t even thinking as he stood up fast enough for his chair to clatter, as he held onto Justin’s face and met their lips for the first time in what felt like years. Justin made a noise of surprise before he threw his arms around Giriko’s neck and pulled him down painfully. Kissing while he was still this broken down, while he still had such problems breathing was a bad idea, but god he missed the brat so much. The two of them greedily held onto each other and tried to meld their very souls for as long as they could, up until Justin started slowing down and getting weirdly spaced with his movements and Giriko broke away in concern.

“You ok?” Justin didn’t answer right away, he was breathing so heavily and actually laid down onto the bed again trying to catch his breath. It was fucking heartbreaking. They couldn’t have been kissing for longer than a minute or so and Justin was already worn out, he was so weak Giriko hated it. Justin was a Death Scythe, he had been even more than that out on his own with no meister and no rules, he was so strong, so durable and unstoppable… and now he wasn’t. 

Justin was  _ delicate  _ now. A shove that was a little too hard would probably send him into a coma. The level of gentleness he had to be touched with, like a porcelain doll that would just shatter if you looked at it wrong, was something Giriko wasn’t used to and also didn’t want to see. Justin had bruises on his wrists just from where Giriko had grabbed on a little too hard, not incredibly, not anywhere near what he had done in the past… but enough that his sickly body had freaked out. 

Giriko hadn’t seen what Justin looked like when he was taken from the moon, he didn’t even know what happened up there, Justin refused to talk about it and the other elites always looked the other way when he brought up. As infuriating as that was, Giriko honestly wasn’t sure if he wanted to know, after all he already knew it’d only make him mad. The important part was that Justin survived it and the academy decided they would save his skin from whatever had made him  _ this  _ sick. 

It was amazing considering Giriko wasn’t in any great shape when he was dragged back and thrown in their gross prisons instead of being helped, having literally busted a gasket and having an aneurysm that normally would have him switching bodies again to not have to live with the injuries it caused. His head constantly ached along with his left arm twitching without his input and he found himself spacing out more often than he was comfortable with. Plus the knowledge he had gotten pissed enough to blow up was certainly something considering his life of drunken anger… he supposed it calmed him down a bit though- just in shock and a fear of getting to that point again and actually killing himself this time. 

Suddenly a hand grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and pulled him down, Justin deciding he had breathed enough and meeting their lips again. Once the shock passed, Giriko didn’t make the scythe try to manage this on his own. He held Justin’s face in gentle hands that almost surrounded the little brat’s whole head. It was a struggle to keep his grip from getting too tight, worried he’d hurt the other, as if he could shatter Justin’s skull beneath his hands. Somewhere in the back of mind Giriko remembered Azusa had just been right there to take Justin’s mask off and could still be watching them… but hell if he cared.

Putting one of his knees up onto the hospital bed his heart twinged when Justin pulled back for a second to take a desperate gasp for air before meeting their lips again, refusing to let this go despite it clearly hurting him. This probably wasn’t helping the kid’s lungs at all like they had hoped but Giriko couldn’t stand this distance anymore, and clearly Justin couldn’t either. They were pathetic clinging to each other so much, painfully grateful that the one person that had stayed with them through the hell they just lived through was still alive. 

Giriko wasn’t even sure when he had gotten this attached to Justin, when everything was happening they had liked each other sure, perhaps even loved each other, but it was nothing like this. Or maybe it had been and they just didn’t realize it until they lost literally everything, including each other for awhile. It was hard to tell, but it didn’t really matter all that much what they were before this, what mattered was what they were now and

“Justin.” Pulling away Giriko ignored Justin’s whine as they broke away, swallowing and trying to control the beating of his heart when he saw Justin’s wet eyes and glossy lips staring up at him… fuck, was he really doing this? 

“Justin marry me, I don’t want to lose you again.” The silence that followed that, clearly just Justin processing what he had just heard, felt more painful and tense than Giriko could’ve ever imagined. He almost regretted it all until tears started bubbling silently out of Justin’s eyes, clearly happy even if the expression on his face didn’t change, annoyingly good at having a poker face. 

“Can we?” It was amazingly hopeful, said with a tone of disbelief, shocked Giriko would even suggest that as a possibility. It was a fair reaction but it still made Giriko sigh in disappointment. Moving his hand back up to Justin’s cheek he stroked the soft little thing with his thumb, smiling sadly at how the scythe bunched up at the ticklish feeling. 

“As long as the academy isn’t a dick, I wouldn’t of fucking asked if not.” Justin’s eyes were practically twinkling, sinfully cute. The warm glowy feeling of that moment didn’t last long, a scoff came from behind them and had them both jump out of their skin with the reminder they weren’t alone. Whirling around and moving to the side slightly so Justin could also see who it was Giriko grimaced seeing Azusa glowering down at them, probably, definitely not interested in letting this happen.

“Don’t frame us as evil like that, you just come across as petty.” Giriko was sweating, not really able to come up with something snappy to say back to that after being seen so vulnerable by someone he hated so much. Well, that wasn’t true, he didn’t hate Azusa in particular, she was just a part of the academy and generally in that camp for him. Justin seemed to be having issues being seen that way too. 

“Y-you’re still here? Why?” Justin almost squeaked that out, just  _ barely  _ managing to keep his professional tone. Azusa only sighed and moved forward to push back Giriko, checking the time on her watch before picking up the mask again, ending this moment to make sure Justin didn’t fucking die. It was disappointing but annoyingly necessary. 

“Making sure you don’t suffocate, you're still sick you know.” Justin whined as the oxygen mask was put back on, hating the thing like most people would. Still the horrible breathing sounds he was making quieted once everything was back in place, letting him relax and not fight for each breath of air. After it was done, Azusa left with a suspicious glare at Giriko, threatening him to not do anything that would hurt Justin in any possible way with this proposal. Still, the fact she left was actually kind of her blessing, leaving them alone again instead of just kicking Giriko out like she was entirely entitled to do. 

A silence stretched over them for a bit, both of them trying to figure out how to handle the idea that they both wanted this… thing. They were… they were in love, weren’t they? That was something Giriko wasn’t sure how to react to. He should be happy right? Was he happy? 

Looking over to Justin’s pink face staring into the covers he gave a tired smile.

Yeah, he was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> :3c


End file.
